Why Artillery Day was moved from November 3 to December 4: did drones defeat the "gods of war"
Has the role of this type of military changed in the 21st century? Did the gunners retain the influence that made them known as the "gods of war"? During the Russian-Ukrainian war, the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was replenished with dozens of artillery pieces provided by Western partners. Meanwhile, in the fourth year of the war, the battlefield is covered by a dense layer of drones, which track every movement of soldiers and caches of equipment.
Focus decided to talk about why this type of troops continues to play an important role at the front and why the celebration was postponed to another day. Until 2024, the Day of Missile Troops and Artillery was celebrated on November 3. In October 1997, the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) signed a decree in which this date was chosen.
The reason for this decision is that on this day in 1943, during the Second World War, Soviet troops stopped the movement of Nazi Germany north of Kyiv. Cannons were installed at the positions, which worked for 40 minutes on 30 plots with an area of 16-50 hectares. The density of guns is 450 units. for 1 km positions. In this way, a "valley of fire" was created, which aimed to destroy 443 enemy targets.
A zone of continuous explosions was created in front of infantry and tanks, several kilometers wide and 800 m deep. Until the end of the Second World War, this record was not repeated, and the head of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, called this type of troops "gods of war". In November 2024, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, set a new date for Missile Troops and Artillery Day — December 4.
The decree explains that this day was chosen to "start new military traditions" and honor the courage and heroism of Ukrainian soldiers. On the NV media portal, it was clarified why December 4 was chosen. It turned out that the fighters of the missile forces addressed the president with such a request. This day marks the day of St. Barbara, who in the Western world is considered the patroness of lightning, thunder and artillery.
It is indicated that such traditions are followed by the armies of France, Poland, and the United States. Gunners and rocket launchers are a special type of troops in the Armed Forces, which are part of the Ground Forces and the Naval Forces. About 16 artillery brigades are fighting on the battlefield, working with various means of defeat.
The main targets of the artillerymen are hideouts of the enemy's manpower, positions of tanks, artillery, air defense equipment, command posts, deployment points, etc. Since 2024, this branch of the army has been headed by Major General Andriy Malinovskyi. In an interview with "Radio Bayraktar", he spoke, among other things, about the capabilities of the Patriot air defense missile complex, capable of shooting down ballistic and cruise missiles of the Russian Armed Forces.
Gunners and rocket launchers use weapons with which they inflict painful blows deep into the positions of the Russian Armed Forces in the temporarily occupied territories.
The Russians are hit by M777 guns (range 24-40 km), M119 (17-19 km), "Msta-B" (24-29 km), D-30 (12-21 km), self-propelled guns and howitzers "Msta-S" (24-36 km), Krab (30-40 km), Paladin (22-40 km), PzH 2000 (30-40 km), Zuzana (30-40 km), CAESER (40-55 km), "Hyacinth"/"Peony" (37-55 km), "Acacia" (18-24 km), "Bohdana" (30-50 km), VM-21 "Grad" (up to 40 km), M142 HIMARS/M270 (70-300 km), etc.
In the list of artillery systems of the Armed Forces, it is possible to single out samples of Western weapons that began to appear only in 2022. Western aid packages included, for example, M777, PzH 2000, Krab, CAESER, M142 HIMARS/M270 — NATO weapons and their shells provided by the USA, Germany, France and other partner states. Focus wrote about examples of the use of this weapon: in October 2025, the Russians said that HIMARS allegedly punched a hole in the dam of the Belgorod Reservoir.
In addition, the pace of production of the Bogdana self-propelled guns, which the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine put into service already during the war, is notable. According to government officials, the production rate of "Bohdana" is up to 36 units. per month (as of autumn 2024), and this is more than the speed of, for example, the French factories that produce CAESER.
In addition, the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces received a modernized means of attack: the coastal missile complex "Neptune" was modified for ground targets and it began to strike at a distance of 300-1000 km. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in October, the Neptune missile was used, for example, together with the Flamingo missile.
As the analysts of the Texty portal told, a kill zone was formed on the battlefield in Ukraine, in which drones targeted about 10-15 km on both sides of the front. At the same time, it is noted that in the updated conditions, the military continues to use artillery. Military expert Pavlo Narozhny explained why, in his opinion, artillerymen continue to remain an influential force. "Gods of War" have two advantages compared to UAVs. The first advantage is long-range and weather-independent.